Build a shell from curved bands

Set up your study

Download the Shell Pink palette below, or copy its six hex colors. Use a comfortable sketch canvas and a familiar brush; no premium brush is required. The featured illustration is a visual starting point, not a result you need to copy exactly.

Try it in four steps

1. Draw a shell silhouette in pale pink, wider at the top and narrower at its base.
2. Place five curved bands radiating from the base. Leave different widths of pale space between them.
3. Add a darker mark to only one side of each band, keeping the imagined light direction consistent.
4. Use the lightest swatch for two broken highlights, not an unbroken white stripe.

Check your result

If the shell looks flat, check whether the bands curve around its volume or simply run straight across it.

Change one thing

Repeat with fewer, broader bands and compare which version reads better at a small size.